Under supervision from Campagnolo’s staff, I joined several journalists on a quick, 20-mile ride along the California coast on a TT bike built up with the new EPS components. I found the shifter placement and function incredibly intuitive. The aero-shaped brake levers let you shift from the bullhorns while you’re climbing or coming out of a corner, a huge benefit. You can shift one gear at a time, or hold down either button on the right shifter (either on the bar end or brake lever) to cycle through all 11 gears. The brake lever is carbon and features a quick release (relocating it from the brake caliper) that makes the new system easy to use with increasingly popular wide rims, as well as integrated brakes that are becoming more common on TT bikes.

The aero bar-mounted EPS shifter uses an ergonomic profile similar to Campy’s mechanical TT shifters launched last year. It also shares the same return-to-center action. You don’t have to think about pushing the right button, just toggle the lever forward or back. The action of the shift paddles and buttons is crisp and felt solid when shifted, just like Campagnolo's EPS shifters for drop bars.

The biggest difference between the mechanical and electronic shifters is that the EPS versions’ lever is shorter. (The mechanical TT shifters also limit you to three gears per shift.) Unlike the mechanical lever, EPS is not adjustable up and down but fixed in place. A button under the lever put the system into a setup mode to check battery life and make mid-ride shifting adjustments in the event that you’re forced to swap wheels. The new shifters, in conjunction with an expanded wiring harness, allow you to add the new TT shifters onto an EPS-equipped road bike.

Since there are no shift cables to stretch and wear out, TT and tri riders who love to ride but don’t love to work on their bikes will particularly enjoy the fact that this system will ensure that their bikes works just as well at mile 5,000 as it did at mile one—something no mechanical system can duplicate.

The Bullet Ultra is one of two new aero crank offerings from Campagnolo. (Ron Koch)

To complete out their time trial offerings, Campagnolo rolled out two new aero cranksets: the Bora Ultra and Bullet Ultra. The Bora Ultra is lighter, using a titanium axle to save 40 grams, the company says. Both the carbon crank arm and spider are hollow, and the whole thing spins on Cult ceramic bearings. The heavier, less expensive Bullet Ultra crank utilizes a splined steel spindle and the carbon spider is not hollow. The Bullet also rolls on lower-grade ceramic bearings.

Prices are still being set, and we were not able to weigh the new parts for this early review. Campagnolo also declined to provide the results of their wind tunnel testing. Expect these parts in shops around September.